US2117151A - Tin box intended to be vacuumized, or like container - Google Patents

Description

May 10, 1938. A. F. cowAN TIN BOX INTENDED TO BE VACUUMIZEH), OR LIKE CONTAINER Filed Aug. 30, 1935 Patented May 10, 1938 2,117,151

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIN BOX INTENDED TO BE VACUUMIZED, OR LIKE CONTAINER Alan Fraser Cowan, Shirley, England, assignor to The Metal Box Company Limited, London, England, a company of Great Britain Application August 30, 1935, Serial No. 38,632 In Great Britain septcmber zz, 1934 Claims. (01. 220-41) This invention relates to tin boxes or like con- Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the container tainers intended to be vacuumized and has for body shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and its object to provide an improved construction Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view of a furwhereby uniformity of production obtains. ther modified construction. 5 According to the present invention a box or In the drawing like reference numerals deslg- 5 like container intended to be vacuumized has a nate the same or similar parts. lid hinged thereto, and the box is provided with In one form of manufacture according to the a curled or beaded edge and one hinge member invention the box'is formed from a rectangular on. the box is formed in an extension of the blank comprising a lateral extension from which 10 curl or bead and engages loosely the other hinge the hinge member is. to be formed. 10

member on the lid, whereby a hinge is formed The blank is then drawn and shaped to reallowing play and the lid is free to seat itself quired form and the periphery curled or beaded on the curl or bead. so that a continuous. and even curl (or head) ob- By making the hinge member of the box in an tains at the mouth. The extension which, by extension of the curl an evenness is obtained the curling operation is pointing downwardly 13 by the curling operation which produces a perfrom the bead, is then bent up. fect seating for the lid, hence if packing mate- The resultant container body is shown in Fig. rial is disposed between the curl and the lid a 7 in which 'i is the body portion, 2 the curled or standard production suitable for vacuumizlng is beaded edge and 3 the extension. always obtained, whilst if the lid is hinged with A lid 4 (Figs. 2 and. 3) is provided with a skirt, free play the hinge joint gives the lid full freeor flange or extension 5 formed to drop into the dom to seat itself on the even curl so that an bent up extension 3 and is slotted at 6 to give hermetically sealed box maybe obtained under entry through the skirt I of the free end of reduced pressure, and when the vacuum is dethe extension 3, the slot being suiii'ciently large stroyed the lid remains connected to the box. to permit vertical displacement of the lid at the 25 The sealing medium may be an elastic band hinge. The beaded edge of the cover flange or a plastic mass. If a band is used the latter thusforms a, pintle adapted to be received within may have a tab which projects and may be pulled. the extension 3 which forms a socket. to displace the band and break down the vacu- By such an arrangement the lid may be turned um, or if a plastic mass is used the box or lid about the hinge and when over the. box may fall 30 may have a pin hole closured by a removable parallelly to the curl. patch or cover as well known in the art; The lid l is formed to locate packing mate- Experience has shown that'if the curl does not rial over the bead and extension and to this end extend wholly around the mouth and an attempt may be dished to form a wall about which a band. is made to bend over metal between the ends I may be disposed (as shown in Fig. 8) or the of a curl to form one member of a joint that it lid may be formed with a peripheral groove 8 to is impossible to assure the evenness of seating locate plastic material or a band I in the lid. required to assure standard production or the The wall of e container may be formed with continuity required t assure a sea]. a groove or with an indentation orfbead as shown 40 In order that the invention may be more clearat in 1 for Supporting a 00in other 40 ly understood, reference will now be made to plement by means of which the may be the'accompanymg drawing which shows by way vered off without first'breaking the vacuum. of example preferred embodiments thereof. Means may be provided' however for destroy I the ing the vacuum before the lid is removed. n 1 t ti 1 vi f n In the construction shown in Fig. l a pin- 5 is ransverse sec mm b ew o t O hole is provided in the bottom oi the container form of construction according to t e inven ion, and this hole is closured by a removable patch Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the container or closure as known in the am Show" in 1; The edge of the lid opposite the hinged .joint 3 is Perspective View on an enlarge-d scale and or the wall between the hinged joint and the of the hinge construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2; from; of t lid may b provided it ot Figs- 4 and 5 are Perspective Views modified ances 9 to catch under the bead or curl 2 on the forms of hinges; periphery of the box to retain the lid 4 closed Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a modified conwhen once the vacuum has been broken. struction of container; From the foregoing it will be observed that 55 many variations may be made in the hinge Joint without departing from the invention. For example, the extension 3 from the bead may extend laterally from the box as shown in Fig. 4 and be slotted as at III to admit freely a tongue ll depending from the lid 4, the tongue ll being, for example, curled and/or upset as at I! to prevent return through the slot.

The extension 3 on the box previously described with reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 may be formed with a rib or shoulders as shown at IS in Fig. 5, to limit the angle of tilt ofthe lid in the "open position.

Moreover, although the invention has been explained by reference to an embodiment in which one extension only is used, clearly instead of one hinge a box according to the invention may be provided with a plurality.

An example of a box having two such hinges is shown in Fig. 6.

The invention has been described in its particular application to a tin box but the invention applies also to other containers, whether made of metal, plastic material, such as that material ;known'-on the market under the registered trademark Bakelite, or containers of glass, whether. transparent or opaque and in such constructions a neck ring is secured to the body of the container so that a lid may be attached to the ring and co-operate therewith to form a closure in exactly the same way as if the ring was the wall of the body of a tinbox.

In using the term ring reference, of course, is only made to the endless form of the member attached to the container and not to its speciflc shape, such member may be of hexagonal, oval, square or of other polygonal form.

Further, it should be understood that the invention applies also to tin boxes or containers in which the lid is made of a mouldable material or is cast whether or not the body portion is a tin box or a container of other material as previously referred to.

In referring to the edge of the mouth of the container as being provided with a curled edge, this term is intended to include not only rolling over the edge to obtain a full curl but a mere fianging or bending over to obtain what may be referred to as a part or open curl.

Although the invention has been described in its particular application to a box of rectangular form, the invention is equally applicable to a box of circular or oval form provided the extensions in the lid and the box are relatively narrow so as 55,

to permit a turning movement about the curved periphery of the box and clearly also the box may have other curved or curvilinear shapes.

What I claim is:-

1. A box or like container adapted to be vacuumized comprising a body portion having an outwardly curled or beaded edge, a lid, a gasket secured to said lid and adapted to engage said bead for sealing the container, said curled edge on the body being extended downwardly, thence outwardly, thence upwardly and inwardly, said lid having a skirt formed with a slot for receiving the inwardly extending portion of said extension whereby said lid is hingedly connected to said body portion, said slot being of suflicient width so as to enable the lid to seat freely upon the a container before the container is vacuumized.

2. A box or like container adapted to be vacuumized comprising a body portion having an outwardly curled or beaded edge, a lid, a gasket secured to said lid and adapted to engage said bead for sealing the container, said curled edge on the body being extended downwardly, thence outwardly, thence upwardly and inwardly, said lid having a skirt formed with a slot for receiving the inwardly extending portion of said extension whereby said lid is hingedly connected to said body portion, said slot being of sufilcient width so as to enable the lid to seat freely upon the container before the container is vacuumized, said upturned portion of the extension being provided with shoulders adapted to engage the lid and serve as stops to limit the tilting movement of said lid.

3. A box or like container adapted to be vac uumized, comprising a body portion having an outwardly curled edge, a lid, a gasket secured to said lid and adapted to engage said curled edge for sealing the container, said lid having a depending fiange rolled at the lower end thereof to form a bead providing a hinge pintle, the curled edge of said body portion being extended downwardly to partially encircle and engage the hinge pintle formed by the bead on said lid, said hinge pintle occupying only a portion of the space within the extended curled edge of said body portion whereby to permit limited vertical movement of said lid relative to said body portion so as to enable the lid to seat freely upon the body portion before the container is vacuumized.

4. A box or like container adapted to be vacuumized, comprising a body portion having an outwardly curled edge, a lid, a gasket secured to said lid and adapted to engage said curled edge for sealing the container, said curled edge of the body portion having a depending extension bent outwardly, upwardly and inwardly to form a hinge member, said lid having a depending skirt and a depressed peripheral portion forming a recess for said gasket, said skirt having a bead at the lower edge thereof and a'slot in the region of said hinge member on the body portion, said inwardly extending portion on the extension passing through said slot and being of a thickness less than the vertical width of said slot for loosely connecting the lid to the body portion whereby to enable the lid to seat freely on the body portion before the container is vacuumiz 5. A box or like container, adapted to be vacuumized, comprising a body portion having an outwardly curled edge, a lid having a depending flange provided with a beaded edge and having a peripheral bed adjacent said flange, a gasket disposed in said peripheral bed and adapted to seat against the curled edge of said body portion, and a-hinge joint connecting said lid with said body portion and including a socket integral with the curled edge on said body portion and a pintle formed by a portion of the beaded edge on the lid flange, said pintle extending within said sock et and only partially occupying the space within said socket whereby to permit the lid to seat freely upon the container before it is vacuumized and also to permit the pintle to move downwardly a distance greater than the amount of reduction in thickness of the gasket when the container is vacuumized.

ALAN FRASER COWAN.

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